The Who were lined up to perform a benefit gig at the BB&T Arena in Kentucky in April 2020, which is just over the Ohio River from Cincinnati, however this show was thwarted by the coronavirus pandemic.
As part of their 2022 North American tour, yesterday The Who announced a gig at the 26,000 TQL Stadium in Cincinnati and proceeds will benefit The P.E.M. Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Roger Daltrey told WCPO-TV: “I can’t wait to be there. It’s about time, it’s taken a long time I know but it’s the least we can do in our final years to say thank you to Cincinnati because it’s a great rock town. You’ve been very good to us.”
He added: “We’re now playing in an even larger venue, which obviously will raise more revenue. I’m very excited about the fact that we leave behind a legacy for Cincinnati."
The Who’s manager Bill Curbishley said: “This is a very moving situation. To come back here after 42-years-plus and hopefully help with the healing process with the community.
Proceeds will go to a memorial scholarship fund in the city. (WCPO)
Pete Townshend recalled the advice he offered Eddie Vedder when nine Pearl Jam fans died in a crowd surge in 2000, and said it was advice that wasn’t available to the Who when they endured a similar horror. (UCR)
“For us, it came close on the heels of the death of Keith Moon,” Townshend told Mojo in a recent interview. “So it was a double blow. I was definitely still really pretty fucked up from that. When Roskilde happened, I just sent Eddie a two-word message: ‘Don’t leave.’ And they did stay. And I think it was very important that they did.”
He said he believed it was important to remain at the scene, communicate with other victims and process the emotions. “Because what we did is we left [Cincinnati], we left the next day, we went to Buffalo. And I remember going on the stage, and Roger [Daltrey] saying – and I should really make it clear I was perfectly behind what Roger said at the time – ‘Let’s play this gig for rock ’n’ roll and the kids of Cincinnati!’ It was just entirely inappropriate. I mean, just wrong. You know, we shouldn’t have gone on, we shouldn’t have performed.”
Townshend reflected that both bands ended up “carrying a tainted flag,” explaining: “I was such a flag-waver for the rock ’n’ roll ethos; I believed something magical happened when great music took place in public. And I think it’s something that still happens. But I think I exalted it perhaps too much. And I think, therefore, when the moment came that everything went wrong, you look and you think, ‘Is this our fault?’ And although you don’t... want to live with that for the rest of your life, the answer has to be yes. There can’t be any other answer. Whether or not that responsibility extends to huge insurance suits is another story.”
The band’s Cincinnati concert — its first since 1979 — was originally scheduled for April 23, 2020, at BB&T Arena in Kentucky. The coronavirus pandemic forced concert organizers to postpone in late March, but a new date was never set.
In 2019, while filming the WCPO documentary "The Who: The Night That Changed Rock," the band’s triumvirate – songwriter/guitarist Pete Townshend, lead singer Roger Daltrey and manager Bill Curbishley – committed to returning to Cincinnati during exclusive interviews with WCPO Anchor Tanya O’Rourke in October 2019.
The Who legend Pete Townshend isn’t sure if the group will make another new album. Roger Daltrey: “There’s no record market any more. Everybody talks about streaming, but have you seen what artists get from that?”
Pete Townshend: ‘Who Album cost too much’ The Who’s Pete Townshend has hinted he will release 10 new songs after the coronavirus lockdown but there is a problem.
The Who‘s Roger Daltrey has admitted that he is reluctant to record another album with the band, because there isn’t a “record market anymore”.
The British band returned in 2019 with ‘Who’, their first record in 13 years, but Daltrey says he’s not sure that a follow-up will materialise.
“It was great to get an album out there, something that the fans liked, and I was really proud of it. But far too much money was spent making it.
